In The News:

Children play on a wall during the reopening ceremony for the Washington Monument. The landmark was closed in 2011 after it suffered damage in a 5.8-magnitude earthquake along the East Coast.

Photo: Reuters

Texas State Rep. Jason Villalba (right) of Dallas tours the Huy Fong Foods Inc. manufacturing plant, which makes Sriracha hot sauce, with founder and CEO David Tran, in Irwindale, Calif. Texas officials are trying to convince the Sriracha maker to move to their state after the city of Irwindale declared them a public nuisance.

Photo: AP

A dromedary at the Chapultepec Zoo in Mexico City. The camel was born in captivity on April 5 and the zoo will name it in a public competition.

Photo: Reuters

Venezuela's national guards detain an anti-government protester during a protest against President Nicolas Maduro's government in Caracas. Venezuela said on Sunday it had freed most of the 243 youth activists arrested in raids last week on street camps set up to protest against Maduro's socialist government.

Photo: Reuters

Pope Francis looks on during a meeting with boards of schools, colleges, and clergy of Rome, in Paul VI hall at the Vatican.

Photo: EPA

A hummingbird perches on a branch covered in fresh snow from a spring snowstorm, at Eldorado Canyon State Park in Eldorado Springs, Colo.

Photo: AP

Pro-Russia protesters applaud a speaker as they declare independence for Luhansk, Ukraine. Pro-Russia separatists in eastern Ukraine declared independence Monday for the Donetsk and Luhansk regions following a contentious referendum.

Photo: AP

Women hold signs during a rally near the Nigerian embassy to raise support for the release of the kidnapped girls in Nigeria in Paris. A French official says Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan has agreed to attend a security summit on Saturday in Paris to focus on the Boko Haram terrorist network, which abducted some 300 schoolgirls in Nigeria last month.

Photo: AP

Supporters of immigration reform protest outside as House Speaker John Boehner addresses the San Antonio, Texas, Chamber of Commerce.

Photo: AP

Shon DeArmon (right) puts his arm around his partner, James Porter, while holding a flag outside the Pulaski County Courthouse in Little Rock, Ark. The state's largest county began issuing gay marriage licenses following a judge's ruling overturning Arkansas' constitutional ban on same-sex marriage.

Photo: AP

The Rev. Dr. Robin H. Gorsline (second from left), president of People of Faith for Equality in Virginia, speaks at a pro-same-sex-marriage rally in front of the Joint Judicial Center in Winchester, Va., with other same-sex-marriage supporters.

Photo: AP

South King County Fire and Rescue Lt. Chris Andersen (left) and firefighter Wendy Chinn fold a U.S. flag that was draped over a piece of limestone that was part of the Pentagon building in Washington, DC, before it was damaged in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The stone was delivered Monday during a ceremony at the Alaska Airlines cargo facility in Seatac, Wash., and will be part of a 9/11 memorial in Federal Way, Wash., that will be dedicated on Sept. 11, 2014, and also contains a beam from the World Trade Center in New York and a rock from the field in Shanksville, Pa., where United Flight 93 crashed during the attacks.

Photo: AP

Marine Major Gen. Mark A. Clark, Marine Special Operations Command commander, along with Sgt. Major Thomas Hall, pins a Silver Star, the nation's third-highest award, on Master Sgt. Donovan Petty (center), a native of St. Cloud, Minn. The award is for his actions while serving in Afghanistan in 2012.

Photo: AP

Stripped trees and debris line the road in Beaver Crossing, Neb., after a tornado blew through the area.

Photo: AP

Afghan security personnel surround the area after Taliban fighters stormed a government building in Jalalabad, east of Kabul, Afghanistan.

Photo: AP

Two new studies indicate that part of the Thwaites Glacier, a huge West Antarctic ice sheet, is starting a slow collapse in an unstoppable way. Alarmed scientists say that means even more rise in sea levels than they figured.

Photo: AP

First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden host the annual Mother's Day tea to honor military mothers at the White House.

Photo: Getty

A Sadhu, or Hindu holy man, holds his election card as he waits in line to vote at a polling station in Varanasi, India.

Photo: Getty Images

Tulips frame the Peace Tower on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Canada.

Photo: Reuters

Professional rock climbers work on the art installation "Big Bambu: 5,000 Arms to Hold You" at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem. The installation by artists Doug and Mike Starn, which upon completion will be made of 10,000 bamboo stalks and cover an area of more than 7,500 square feet, will open to the public June 10.

Photo: Reuters

Female soldiers, as members of honor guards for the first time, stand in a line during a welcoming ceremony for Turkmenistan's President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov outside the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China.

Photo: Reuters

A man picks up statues of Buddha one by one as he packs them for sale at a workshop ahead of Vesak Day celebrations in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Vesak Day, celebrated on May 14 and 15 in Sri Lanka, commemorates the birth, enlightenment and death of Buddha.